Taoiseach
Enda Kenny was in Westport this morning to announce that Allergan plans to
increase its local workforce by 200 to bring the total to over 1,000. The pharmaceutical
giant will invest €270m in a new Botox facility, creating around 250 jobs in
the construction phase. It will be four years before all 200 production jobs come
on stream.

Demand
for Botox is increasing as, in addition to its cosmetic use, it is being
increasingly recognised as an effective treatment for a number of medical conditions,
including migraine and urinary problems

Accenture to recruit 100 additional staff

Accenture
announced today that it plans to recruit a further 100 technology consultants,
some will be recently qualified graduates and some will have industry experience.
Successful applicants will be assigned to a number of locations around the
country.

The
international management consultancy, which employs 1,300 staff in Ireland, also
recently announced 100 new positions at a new research and innovation centre.

Revenue help lines remain open for pensioners

The
question of whether the Government or Revenue could or should have been more discreet
in informing some 115,000 pensioners that they faced increased tax bills in
2012 continues to create controversy.

Revenue
is again assigning additional staff to deal with telephone queries from pensioners
who have concerns about their tax affairs. Some 200 staff, who were brought in
on Saturday to answer calls, were always dealing with a backlog of calls.

The
Government is washing its hands of all blame saying that it was up to Revenue to
decide how best to deal with the issue after it learned that many pensioners
were not declaring their State pension for tax purposes. No one seems to accept
that it is not possible to inform 115,000 people that they have been
underpaying their tax without upsetting most of them and creating fear in
others who are tax compliant.

Garda investigations into Dublin deaths continue

The
29-year-old man, arrested in connection with Saturday's murder of Edward Boylan
(74) at a Dublin City Council retirement complex in Kimmage, has had his period
of detention extended. It seems that this was not a random attack nor was
robbery the motive. The assailant and victim were thought to be known to each
other.

Following
the discovery of skeletal remains in the Dublin Mountains yesterday the
surrounding area is being examined for clothes or other belongings that might
provide some clue as to the identity of the victim. The remains will also be
subject to detailed examination later today. At this stage there is no
indication as to the sex or age of the victim. It is thought, however, that the
person died within the last few years which makes it unlikely that the remains
are those of one of a number of women who disappeared in the 1990s. It is more
probable that the victim was murdered by Dublin criminal gang

Litter problem largely under control

The
latest results of the survey undertaken on behalf of Irish Business Against
Litter shows that 38 of the towns covered were rated as ‘Litter Free'. A
further nine were described as ‘Moderately Littered' and four as ‘Littered'. That
left the Knocknaheeny area of Cork city and Dublin's North Inner City being
tagged as "Litter Blackspots'.

Emirates service to Dubai opens today

The
Emirates airline's service daily service to Dubai has commenced today. Bookings
for the next six months are said to be strong and a larger aircraft may be put
on the route.

Ballad singer Bridie Gallagher dies aged 87

Bridie
Gallagher, who once delighted audiences around the world with her renditions of
Irish ballads, has died a the age of 87. "The Girl from Donegal" was at her most
popular in the 1950s but her career continued for decades.

Today's Papers

The
Irish Times leads with the fall-out from pensioners' tax liability, with
"Revenue officials face questioning on letters to pensioners", while the Irish
Independent focuses on the murder of Eddie Boylan in Dublin, under the headline
"Pensioner's killer bought lighter fuel to burn body". The Irish Examiner
headline, "20% of people in homeless shelters have jobs", looks at the
inability of some workers to pay rent.

The
Irish News has a good news story on its front page, with "Approval for bone
marrow op gives Patrick (7) hope".

The Weather in Galway

After
overnight rain the day is dry and mild with some small breaks in the cloud
cover. Temperature 10C.

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